Cover retainer



April 20 1926. 1,581,818

W. K. SHEFFIELD ET AL COVER RETAINER Filed Jan. 23, 1923 3 1%; may

Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WASHINGTON KYLE SHEFFIELD AND ALBERT J. HORTON, OF NEW LONDON,'CON- vNECTICUT; SAID HORTON ASSIGNOR TO SAID SHEFFIELD.

COVER RETAINER.

Application filed January 23, 1923. Serial No. 614,426.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WASHINGTON KYLE SHEFFIEIJ), a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New London, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, and ALBERT J. HoR'roN, a citizen of the'United States,residing at New London, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CoverRetainers, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved form of cap retainingmeans, shown in the accompanying drawings as being attached to acollapsible tube of the well known type and cap therefor, such tubesbeing used for holding tooth paste, cold cream, and the like, though itis noted that the inventlon is not limited in its application tocontainers and caps therefor.

One of the important advantages of our device is that owing to itsconstruction it is adapted to be readily removed from a used tube andcap and as readily replaced upon a new tube and cap, without provislonof an means u on the cap or tube other than 1s provide in the presentmethod of manufacture of such tubes and caps.

Another important advantage of our device is its simplicity and economyof manufacture. In ordinary manufacture of these tubes and caps it isnow common and standard practice to provide the caps with a knurledportion for use in manually unscrewing the ca and to provide immediatelybelow the urled portion thereof a neck formed by a groove of substantialdepth and a lower flan e. Also, in the standard manufacture of t e tubesit is customary to provide upon the threaded opening thereof a neckformed by a clearance between the threaded portion and the taperedshoulder of the tube, whereby to permit of mechanical threading of thesaid portion during manufacture 1n a clean manner without run-- ningintothe shoulder. This groove is commonly known as the clearance and by taking advantage of these standard conditions upon both the tube and cap wehave devised a ca clip which comprises two wire grips of slmilarconstruction joined together by some suitable form .of chain, whichchain preferably in the present instance consists of a standard type ofball chain which is now being manufactured in large quantities at a lowcost. We have selected this form of chain both for its neatness in'appearance and its extreme adaptability to the requirements in itspresent use.

v It will be noted .in the drawings herein that the clips are made ofstock spring wire, and may be formed in many ways wherein advantage istaken of the resiliency of the wire itself to form a loop which may beresiliently engaged or disengaged with the clearance portion of thethreaded nipple of the tube or the groove in the cap.

Another advantage in our device is that, aside from its completeassembly, all of the coacting parts readily lend themselves to machinemanufacture with a minimum amount of hand labor, and therefore make forgreat economy in manufacture, and the construction of the device is sosimple that a minimum amount of labor is expended in assembling thedevice for use on tubes of this class.

Still another important advantage of .our device is that due to itsconstruction as shown, its appearance is highly ornamental and thereforebecomes an advertising asset of value on this account alone.

In the accompanying drawing, showing by way of example four of manypossible embodiments of the invention, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary,approximately full size, view of a tube showing .our device attachedthereto.

Fig. 2 is a substantially full size perspective viewof our devicedisengaged from the tube and cap.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the clip shown in F g. 4; Fig. 4 being oneform of our clip construction.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the cap clip shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 6 beinganother form of construction of our clip. 7

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of another modified form of clip as shown inFig; 8; Fig. 8' being a plan View thereof.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the construction shown in plan in Fig. 10,which is still another form' of clip construction.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of another form of modified clip ofsimilarconstruction to those shown in Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10.

Fig. 12 is a view showing the plan of readily shaping the cap clip sothat it may .not be expanded unduly in placing it over the neck of thecap.

By referring to the drawings it w1ll be seen that our device comprises acollapsible tube or container 10 provided with an outlet neck or nippleexternally threaded at its outer end 11 and having a plain or clearanceportion 12 between said threaded end 11 and the tube 10. An internallythreaded cap, adapted to be screwed on said threaded end 11, has anouter enlarged knurled end 15 and a laterally extending flanged innerend 16 forming a circumferential groove between the flange 16 andknurled. end 15.

Clips 18, each formed of a single piece of spring wire consisting of twooppositely curved grip arms 20, Figs 6,- are adapted to be snapped orsprung into and out of said groove 17 or onsaid clearance 12. The clipattached to the tube may be chased or screwed over the threaded end 11to clearance 12, as well as snapped thereon. Each clip 18 is providedwith an arms-connecting loop "P01431011 22 having its outer end 23, Fig.5, bent at an angle to said arms 20 to form-an engaging seat loop 25.

A chain 30, made of balls pivotally connected to each other, connectssaid clips 18 to each other by having its end balls 31 passed betweensaid arms 20 and outwardly therefrom until each said end ball 31 restsin or engages in said seat 25.

To attach a clip to the cap the free ends of the arms 20 are placed inthe groove 17 Fig. 12, and the arms forced apart sufiiciently by theflange 16, employing the extending loop portion 22 as a lever, to ahowthe arms to pass thereover and seat themselves in the groove 17. Toremove the clip it is only necessary to press upwardly on the loopportion 22 which will force the arms 20 apart and allow the flange 16 topass therebetween.

In the modification shown in Fig. 11, the loop portion 22 is slightlyconstricted to prevent the clip 18 from'disengaging from the chain whenour device is not applied to a tube.

Another form of clip, 18", for accomplishing the same result, is shownin Fig. 10, in which the loop portion 22 is given a half turn relativeto the arms 20", thereby forming seat eye 25 in which rests the end ball31 of chain 30, the arms 20 being slightly sprung apart to permitpassage therebetween of'the ball-connecting portion of the chain.

Figs. 4 and 8 show the arms 20 and 20 extended to meet each other; thisform of clip being adapted for screwing on threaded nipples, such asnipple 11, Fig. 1.

\Ve claim:

1. The combination with the neck of a container and a removable closingcap for the neck, of spring clips each having arms connected at theirinner ends by a loop portion of the clip and spaced apart at their outerends, the arms of one clip being claspingly engageable around the neckof the container and the arms of the other clip being claspinglyengageable around the cap of the container, and a series of membersflexibly connected to form a chain, adjacent flexibly connected membersof said chain at one end of the chain being removably engageable withthe loop portion of the clip which engages said neck and adjacentflexibly connected members of said chain at the opposite end of thechain being removably engageable with the loop portion of the clip whichengages said cap.

2. The combination with the neck of a container and a removable closingcap for the neck, of spring clips each having arms connected at theirinner ends by a loop portion of the clip and spaced apart at their outerends, the arms of one clip being claspingly engageable aroufid the neckof the container "and the arms of the other clip being claspinglyengageable around the cap of the container, the loop portions of theclips being inclined to the plane of the arms of the clips and providingmeans for springing the arms out of said engagements for releasing thearms, and a series of members flexibly connected to form a chain,adjacent flexibly connected members of said chain at one end of thechain being removably engageable with the loop portlon of the clip whichengages said neck and adjacent flexibly connected members of said chainat the opposite end of the chain being removably engageable with theloop portion of the clipv which engages said cap.

3. The combination with the neck of a container and a removable closingcap for the neck, of spring clips each having arms connected at theirinner ends by a loop portion of the clip and spaced apart at their outerends, the arms of one clip being clasp1nglyengageable around the neckof; the contalner and the arms of the other clip being claspinglyengageable around the cap of the container, and a series of sphericalmembers flexibly connected to form a chain, the loop portion of the clipengageable with said neck being claspingly engageable around said chainin the space formed between two adjacent flexiblyconnected members atone end of the chain and the loop portion of the clip engageable withsaid cap being claspingly engageable around said chain in the spaceformed between two adjacent flexibly connected members at the op positeend of the chain.

4. In a device of the character described, 139

the combination of spring clips eachhaving adjacent flexibly connectedmembers of said arms connectedat their inner ends by a loop chain at theopposite endof the chain being 10 portion of the clip and spacedapart'at their removably engage-able with the loop portion outer ends,and a chain formed of a series of the other of said clips for connectingthe of flexibly connected members, adjacent flex clips.

ibly connected membersof said chain at one end of the chain beingremovably engageable. W. KYLE SHEFFIELD. with the loop portion of one ofthe clips and ALBERT J. HORTON.

